Sam Hunt Recalls the Christmas He Received a Horse

Sam Hunt has had a banner year with his 34-week No. 1 "Body Like a Back Road"--but long before he was named Billboard’s No. 1 Hot Country Songs Artist for 2017, he was a kid in Georgia enjoying the holidays just like all of us. In an interview with his record label, UMG Nashville, the singer recalls one of his favorite Christmases which included the gift of a horse.

“I remember being really excited when, I got into riding horses, and one Christmas I got a Mustang that I named Comanche – a horse – and that was a really exciting time," he tells the label. "I rode all the time after that."

The singer said he had friends and a babysitter who had horses as a child, so he rode occasionally, but the gift of his first horse made him a frequent rider.

"I remember one year, it probably started from the horse-riding thing, but I got into wanting to be a bull rider," he admits. "I was still pretty young – 8, 9, 10 years old – so one Christmas, we got a little steer calf. It had a little rope, and I’d try to ride a calf, you know? He sort of grew up with us and grew into a bull and ended up getting after my grandmother one afternoon. We had to get rid of him. He was just playing, but she wasn’t really the playful type.”

Hunt is currently spending his down time with his wife, Hannah, whom he married earlier this year.